Mirova Boosts Stock Position in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Mirova boosted its stake in shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO - Free Report) by 458.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,945 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 18,014 shares during the period. Mirova's holdings in Veralto were worth $2,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Veralto during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Veralto during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in shares of Veralto in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its position in shares of Veralto by 2,100.0% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 352 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Veralto during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Veralto Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of VLTO stock traded up $0.28 on Friday, reaching $92.02. 437,993 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,471,893. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $95.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.82 billion, a PE ratio of 27.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. Veralto Co. has a 52 week low of $83.87 and a 52 week high of $115.00.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. Veralto had a net margin of 16.04% and a return on equity of 49.29%. As a group, analysts forecast that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 EPS for the current year.

Veralto Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Veralto's dividend payout ratio is 13.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VLTO shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Veralto from $110.00 to $102.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Veralto from $116.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Veralto from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Veralto presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $111.10.

Insider Activity

In other Veralto news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 463 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total transaction of $46,114.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,761 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,067,795.60. This trade represents a 2.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 590 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.35, for a total transaction of $59,206.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,470 shares of the company's stock, valued at $849,964.50. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 22,471 shares of company stock worth $2,234,030. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

About Veralto

Veralto Corporation provides water analytics, water treatment, marking and coding, and packaging and color services worldwide. It operates through two segments, Water Quality (WQ) and Product Quality & Innovation (PQI). The WQ segment offers precision instrumentation and water treatment technologies to measure, analyze, and treat water in residential, commercial, municipal, industrial, research, and natural resource applications through the Hach, Trojan Technologies, and ChemTreat brands.